Human Rights: Discrimination against Romanians and Bulgarians

At the end of 2013, Bulgarians and Romanians will gain the same rights to work in the UK and other EU countries, as other EU citizens. In 2007, they gained the right to visa-free travel, when the two countries joined the EU. But there were temporary restrictions on the kind of jobs they could take. Employers had to apply for work permits and migrants for an "accession worker card". Low-skilled workers were restricted to existing quota schemes in the agricultural and food processing sectors. These restrictions will be dropped on 1 January 2014. Bulgarians and Romanians will also be entitled to claim the same benefits and NHS care as other EU citizens. Apart from Britain, eight countries have imposed restrictions of some kind on Romanians and Bulgarians, which will expire at the same time: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain, and The Netherlands. (Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21523319).

Ministers from the UK for example, draw up plans to impose welfare restrictions when Romanians and Bulgarians are given full travel rights across the EU next year. Romanian and Bulgarian MEPs however, claimed they were being treated as "second-class Europeans" and Britain must act within EU law which says that Romanians and Bulgarians must be treated like all EU citizens from 2014. (Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/01/lib-dems-tories-romanians-bulgarians).

As we can see, Romanians and Bulgarians are seen in a very negative way by many other countries from Europe. This may happen because they don't know the traditions, culture and hospitality of the two countries and rely mostly on headline TV and Internet stories for information that present cases of felonies and misdemeanors.

Solutions received from citizens

Przemek Chądzyński, Poland, web developer (19.05.2010)

People are thinking using sterotypes - same way at Germany through many years people thought that guys from Poland always were drunken and thiefs; now it is changing;
I spent couple nice days at RO - and it was very good time. I met people who are great professionalist at theirs work.
From my point of view it not depend of yours activites inside country. You shoud "export" people who are great workers in many areas. It could be hard - becasue you need them in RO. But outside of PL minds started changing after opening the borders. When specialists started work in UK, Benelux, DE - then opinion about Polish workes and people at general changed.

iulia mariana condurache, Romania, student (18.05.2010)

It is right that we should promote better ours values, ours traditions, ours peoples, those who make honor to our contry. We can do that whit the help of the tourism, campains, change of experience whith schools and universities from other countries, internationals projects for youngs, theatres ans dansers company tours, romanian singer in toutnaments and other. Promote ourselfs!!

Ladanyi Emese, Romania, Coordonator Proiect (18.05.2010)

Romania, like many other European country is a multicultural one. And that is a good thing. The problem is us, Romanian citizens. We are not proud of us. We see and we publish (the press) only the bad things. We should try to build a good image for our country, for our people. But I don`t think that the press is guilty. They publish what the audience or the public ask for. And as I see, it is us, who want to see negative things. We are not proud of our values, even if we have them. Sad.

Elena Filip, Romania, student (18.05.2010)

I think that we should promote the tourism in Romania, because we have a lot of interesting places, where people can spend their vacations. This way, they can meet romanian people and they can see that we are not that bad.

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